Spurs -Thunder previews/prediction (ESPN,SI,Dime mag and others)..

[spursistan]

ESPN "expert picks: Spurs (13) - Thunder (3)

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...-spurs-thunder

[Escawun3]

I'm surprised Elhassan, Gutierrez and Thorpe have chosen us

[YGWHI]

Thanks for the articles

Just Kanter is specially aggressive and talented and he's really a handful. He has owned them.

Kanter has been great for OKC in playoffs, he's #1 in PER in the league this postseason, an unresolved issue in the paint and the most efficient in the picks and rolls with Westbrook.

But I want to see LMA and Boris attacking him in the post all game because Kanter is so awful on defense.

[TD 21]

Thanks for the articles



Kanter has been great for OKC in playoffs, he's #1 in PER in the league this postseason, an unresolved issue in the paint and the most efficient in the picks and rolls with Westbrook.

But I want to see LMA and Boris attacking him in the post all game because Kanter is so awful on defense.

Kanter won't guard Aldridge or Diaw; he'll guard Duncan and West. Although he's a terrible all around defender, his biggest weaknesses are pick-and-roll and protecting the rim; not post defense.

[YGWHI]

Kanter won't guard Aldridge or Diaw; he'll guard Duncan and West. Although he's a terrible all around defender, his biggest weaknesses are pick-and-roll and protecting the rim; not post defense.

With who they paring Kanter in the second unit? Collison? Or one of Ibaka-Adam tandem? Against Mavs I saw Collison just a few minutes but can't remember most regular season games.

Because I can't see Collison or Adam defending Boris and Kanter guarding Duncan or West, I think Donovan is more traditional about PF and C on defense.

[TD 21]

With who they paring Kanter in the second unit? Collison? Or one of Ibaka-Adam tandem? Against Mavs I saw Collison just a few minutes but can't remember most regular season games.

Because I can't see Collison or Adam defending Boris and Kanter guarding Duncan or West, I think Donovan is a more traditional about PF and C on defense.

They don't have a constant, when it comes to backup power forward. Kanter can and will be paired with any of Ibaka, Durant, Collison, Singler or Adams, with Kanter sliding to power forward.

Adams won't defend Diaw either. He'll defend Duncan, Aldridge and West. Ibaka, Collison and Durant, will defend Diaw.

If Donovan were smart, he'd play a Payne-Waiters-Morrow-Durant-Kanter bench, but I fully expect to see Foye and Collison ahead of Payne and Morrow, with Singler eventually replacing Collison, in a (futile) attempt to provide better spacing.

[Kawhitstorm]

[Kawhitstorm]

I'm surprised Elhassan, Gutierrez and Thorpe have chosen us

The folks who actually watch the games & aren't part of the OKC media have ALL picked the Spurs.

[GSH]

It's hard to rely too much on the regular season matchups between these two.

The game where the Spurs started their bench against OKC's starters (and OKC left Durant and Westbrook in even with a 20 point lead and 5 minutes to play)? Do you think that might be a big night for Kanter? I'm thinking those three games probably have something to do with Kanter's regular season stats against the Spurs. What do you think?

I was not in the mood to be argumentative, but yes I don't have much confidence in Diaw/West. They could show up to show me I was wring in my concern, but we shall see if any adjustments are required.

It's only the first half of the first game, but so far not much resemblance to the regular season. Especially Kanter and Adams.

So far the only negatives for the Spurs have been Patty and Fathead.

[tmtcsc]

As far as rust though: I think the Spurs will come out with tons of energy, maybe too much. Once things settle, they will run away. IF DG and Patty get it going, Spurs win by at least 20.

I just bumped myself. I feel dirty.

[SAGirl]

It's only the first half of the first game, but so far not much resemblance to the regular season. Especially Kanter and Adams.

So far the only negatives for the Spurs have been Patty and Fathead.

They were off. That can happen. Kyle did a good job defensively and stayed within the offense. Patty took shots he can make. Hopefully they will even it out, so that as far as roleplayers go they can provide scoring when others are cold.

Perimeter players did a good job containing dribble penetration for the most part which allowed the bigs to stay back boxing out and not help on those drives. The team executed really well and I think that surprised OKC. Definitely an encouraging sign. POP did split Diaw and West, but the game got in garbage time so early and OKC was never able to close that gap bc they couldn't slow down LMA or Kawhi, plus all the fouling on 3 pt shooters... Hopefully we continue to play this well as a team.